Reply to NYTimes: In South Korea, Questions About Cram Schools, Success and Happiness

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Korea is going to implode. They already have the lowest birth rate in the world.   It's a fantastic place to visit and live if you don't have kids.   But, the "cram" school in the US and the US education in general is a lot easier than in Korea. That's one of the reasons why people want to send their kids here.

Yes, they are importing some of their way of life here, but in some ways, it's no different than parents who push their kids to excel in sports in hopes for an athletic scholarship such that the kids are stressed (physically, too) and get little sleep.  Same coin, different sides.

-Korean American[/quote]

And before Korean cram schools, there were Japanese cram schools. Same torture. I recall a kid who needed to prepare for an entrance exam to get into the "best" cram school that was going to prepare her for a top private school's entrance exam!!!! CRAZY.

At one point, Japan had the highest rate of teen suicide in the world. My Japanese cousins are all middle aged and none have kids. I think they suffered through the worst of the academic pressure world. Now in Japan there's a lot more advocacy for mental health and work-life balance - which for Japanese just means "don't kill yourself for work or school". Not *actual* work-life balance...[/quote]
Oh yes, I recall the articles about Japan's issue around this. Same story, different country. Japan's economy was a lot better than SK's at the time.

In Busan, SK, there is a statue at the top of bridge of a woman holding her child with a plaque on it that says something like "don't commit suicide. You'll break your mother's heart", or something like that.  My translation isn't very good.

It must be so hard for the parents.  They want their kids to be successful but at the same time, don't want their kids to commit suicide.  It's a delicate balancing act.  I've always said that parenting is like walking a tightrope  - lean a too far one way, and you'll end up damaging your kids.   But, it's even worse in countries like SK.  It's also one of the reasons why they have such a low birth rate. It's too expensive to raise a child with all the cram schools and stuff.

Like I said, SK is going to implode, but the chaebols and politicians who are in the back pockets of the chaebols don't want to change much because the current system works for them in the short term.

They'll have to rely on immigrants for workers in a few decades.[/quote]

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